How we serve you

Our purpose

We serve a single purpose: your financial well-being

Founded in 1918 for those who serve others, TIAA was built for you. How we invest, our products and services—even our corporate structure—were created to meet your needs.

Long-term focus

Our disciplined approach was created for your long-term financial goals

We manage money with a long-term perspective.

TIAA’s mission is to help you achieve financial well-being throughout your lifetime.

Disciplined process. Proven. Time tested.

Our time-tested, repeatable investment approach gives you the confidence that our investments can help deliver for you.

In it for the long haul

We’ve made long-term investments in real assets like farmland, timberland and real estate. All to help meet our long-term obligations to you.

We understand the trends

No matter what’s going on in the markets, our innovative thinking and sophisticated research capabilities power long-term results.

How we invest
Performance & value

Performance meets great value

Our focus is delivering superior, long-term results for our customers at competitive costs.

High performing funds

69% have received an overall rating of 4 or 5 stars across all asset classes.1

More of your money works for you

90% of TIAA-CREF mutual funds and CREF annuities have expense ratios below the median in their respective categories.2

Where our profits go

Putting earnings to work for you

Our purpose is helping you achieve your financial goals. With no outside shareholders, other than our Board of Overseers—which is a not-for-profit entity—we are focused on your financial well-being.

We help you save for the future, Reinvest in the business, Pay Participants
Accountability

We hold ourselves to a higher standard

Earning and keeping your trust is an important part of how we serve you. We put participants at the center, take a long-term view on investing and operate with transparency.

1918 – TIAA is founded with a mission to serve

Our first corporate charter is adopted, encouraging participants to help select our Board of Directors.

1970s – Leading the way in corporate governance

One of the first institutional investors to engage its portfolio companies on social responsibility issues, TIAA also led the creation of the Investor Responsibility Research Center in 1972.

1980s – Enhancing our responsible investing

TIAA’s responsible investing program continued to grow with the introduction of an affordable housing financing program to help underserved markets nationwide.

1990s – Expanding our commitment

Initiated a corporate assessment program to monitor and improve policies at all 1,500+ companies in our investment portfolio.

Today – A leader on environmental, social and governance issues

TIAA continues to lead on ESG issues with the creation of a Social & Community Investing group, the start of a $100 million microfinance program, and as a signatory of the UN Principals for Responsible Investment.

How we're accountable

1 Morningstar ratings are based on each mutual fund (institutional share class) or variable annuity account's (lowest cost) share class and include U.S. open-end mutual funds, CREF Variable Accounts and the Life Funds. The Morningstar Rating™ --or "star rating" --is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. The rating is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. Morningstar ratings may be higher or lower on a monthly basis. The top 10% of funds or accounts in each product category receive five stars, the next 22.5% receive four stars and the next 35% receive three stars. The overall star ratings are Morningstar's published ratings, which are derived from weighted averages of the performance figures associated with the three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar rating metrics for the period ended December 31, 2021. Morningstar is an independent service that rates mutual funds. Past performance cannot guarantee future results. For current performance and ratings, please visit TIAA.org/public/investment-performance.
2 Based on Morningstar Direct (as of December 31, 2021) expense comparisons by category, excluding Money Market products. Actual percentage is 89.61%. TIAA-CREF mutual fund and CREF variable annuity products are subject to various fees and expenses, including but not limited to management, administrative, and distribution fees; our variable annuity products have an additional mortality and expense risk charge. Excludes the class W shares, which are not available for purchase by retail investors.

TIAA products may be subject to market and other risk factors.  See the applicable product literature, or visit TIAA.org for details.
Any guarantees under annuities issued by TIAA are subject to TIAA's claims-paying ability.
This material is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute fiduciary investment advice under ERISA, a securities recommendation under all securities laws, or an insurance product recommendation under state insurance laws or regulations. This material does not take into account any specific objectives or circumstances of any particular investor, or suggest any specific course of action. Investment decisions should be made based on the investor's own objectives and circumstances.

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